Patna: More than 10 lakh families in Bihar are facing fresh uncertainty after installment payments under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) were halted, stalling construction of thousands of rural homes.
Officials in the state’s rural development department confirmed that no payments have been made for two weeks after the central government introduced a new system of fund transfer. Under the revised process, money will now be released directly through the Reserve Bank of India, replacing the earlier system in which funds were withdrawn and disbursed via banks before reaching beneficiaries.
Technical changes to integrate this mechanism with Awas Soft, the government’s monitoring portal, are delaying the process. Authorities have indicated that payments may take another 10 to 15 days to resume.
The freeze has added to existing delays. In the 2024–25 financial year, the centre had approved around 7.5 lakh homes for Bihar, followed by 5.5 lakh more in April 2025. At present, 12.26 lakh beneficiaries are awaiting funds, of which 12.03 lakh have received approval to begin construction. Yet only 15% of homes – about 1.81 lakh – have been completed.
Each family is entitled to three installments of Rs 40,000 to build a permanent house, with priority given to those who are homeless or living in temporary kutcha dwellings. While the first installment has been disbursed to 11.36 lakh families, the remaining payments have been held up under the new system.
